EXAMPLE:

This page is NOT intended as neither a political or hearts-and-minds broadcast, it is to merely to provide an insight for others to use or dismiss - their/your choice, but also for them/you to reflect on their/your own personal outlook on work, coming from a person with near 30 years, working from the bottom up, always learning, adapting and evolving alongside "the good, the bad & the ugly" within the construction-engineering industry.

Nowadays PM/BSM's have become in the "majority" somewhat punchbags, whilst the abilities lacked are conducted by others, even worse nowadays people do not want any responsibility again in the "majority", they want to sadly avoid any responsibility, or hold autonomy for an easy risk-free life. 

If you ask a PM/BSM what’s the program you are pointed to the planner, if you ask what’s the commercial position you are pointed to the QS, if you ask about site you are pointed to the site manager, and if you ask them to make a decision, well then they walk off to make a call to their boss - Sound familiar?

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new"

"Your life is not, and will never be your work! your work is just a small part in your life, which becomes easier in time by the person you become, whilst doing and becoming better at it, never forget that, you are important, first, foremost and always... (Ketley)

When the work-life balance becomes too unbalanced, one will always suffer, and eventually result in the others failure (both require constant attention) - therefore a healthy, rested mindset, and a balanced well-being between work and life, is the key to sustained performance, much failure in this subject matter has seen an increase in mental health issues year-on-year, so the evidence is undeniable.

One thing that often occurs is an assistant on the verge of moving up, is placed on a project without any real support, they get through said project due to subcontractors processes/management, then they ask for promotion and/or leave for one, they get made up to BSM/PM or worse a senior, then if they are not regarded as being good at their job, they are referred to/looked as "floor walking resource" BSM/PMs, then one day they leave chasing money or simply running away when issues arise, and all of a sudden they are sacked after a short period, because they are not to the standard the title commands. But is it their fault or is it due to money/job titles/project wins requiring fast/knee-jerk hiring, and/or simply a lack of internal training/processes that drives-out the standards/ability?.

Keevan recalls at one company a "services manager" wished to leave due to the stress also stating he envisaged a "nervous breakdown" approaching, Keevan took all the admin, reporting, meetings, tracking, programming, commissioning etc. off his plate (all the work!) and told him to just essentially take it easy, hit the reset button, and just floor-walk for a while, the individual still left, saying it was still too much for him, when he did not have anything to do!...

Guess what? when Keevan moved to another company said "services manager" was working at that company hiding in their ranks, so not all make the cut, even when they do not have any responsibility, but survive in their role until found out/tested, then jump-ship, and start over with a new creative CV but sadly they haven't learnt anything, but how to chase agencies and make-up excuses. Now, at times they are just surviving whilst doing the best they can, not knowing how to progress due to being too embarrassed to ask for help, but need money to pay their bills which is understandable to a point, but often made worse when they cannot be bothered to enhance/aid their limited skill-set (if there is, or ever was one!), and learn, evolve or even ask for help, and lets not forget, also what they are actually getting paid for!, which is a sad place to be in.

The first thing they do always learn, and always become master's in, is completing their timesheets and cost-coding themselves to jobs, not forgetting their expenses...

You cannot force someone to try to be/do better or even to "want" to, they need the desire and determination to succeed in the first place, but you can always try to make them think!.

One way to simply sum it would be to use our special forces in the military/any service, ask anyone who has served, they will agree it is not their fitness, muscle or being strong, years spent existing in the ranks, or whom they have in their phonebook, or worse of all the brown nosing "yes" people, that gets you through training and tests required to join an elite unit - it is quite simply having, the right "mindset" some are borne with it, others can adapt to it, and learn their abilities under pressure, and the remainder just continue in short "existing" elsewhere...

It is so important to invest in the right management, for years so called "yes" people/managers, have succeeded with surviving in both construction and engineering, due to simply being easy to control, manage, delegate rubbish to and/or even blame as easy targets, opposed to having competent candidates who may be opinionated (for good reason) due to having a much higher skill-set/level of experience, speaking their own mind, yet held back essentially for being too clever for their own good, as they become threats due to the simple fact that they challenge the norm in the industry/company yet no progression was ever made from remaining stagnant day-in-day-out, which is actually a truely great quality yet not always rewarded as such in some companies with insecure people in them, but ask yourselves, where would mankind be now if no one ever challenged physics, and/or invented the new world we now live in, there would be no progress without those people asking simple questions, such as how can we improve things...

It has been an industry handbrake for years, and a shame as the resulting effect of this means that more people leave companies due to being over-looked and not appreciated by poor management, this in-turn creates poor company performance, process and management/deliverables, eventually breaking down the individual’s that don't move on, because they remain untrained and end up coexisting in their environments, believing they are doing their role to a high standard simply by being continually employed (but if they were taken out of their comfort zone, they would be found out/wanting, in many areas/aspects relating to their role).

On the flip side of that coin, if they were acknowledged and time was invested in them (with a system of proven, detailed, and monitored improvement), and they were allowed to progress, they could be top performers, but sadly end up co-existing in a somewhat dormant state year-on-year never progressing, dragging themselves through life, week-by-week.

Ketley made a new tracking system on his program software whereby he added a linked admin section back to the project files so that he could find future issues a single program droplined, and as long as nothing is behind one could just agree no further action, but if there is any lag behind the line the information could be accessed from the one program document, he did that proactive add-in into his programming for tracking of admin updating which serves best when one may be managing more than one project, it beats outlook reminders and/or wall planners/diaries etc. now he could of just read a book in hospital, but he it is that thirst for knowledge, and wanting to make things are fluid as possible that makes a person, "that person" if you get the expression?...

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself, 

Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man"  (George Bernard Shaw)

“A good leader must be: confident but not cocky; courageous but not foolhardy; competitive but a gracious loser; attentive to details but not obsessed by them; strong but have endurance; a leader and follower; humble not passive; aggressive not overbearing; quiet not silent; calm but not robotic, logical but not devoid of emotions; close with the troops but not so close that one becomes more important than another or more important than the good of the team; not so close that they forget who is in charge. Able to execute extreme ownership, while exercising decentralised command. A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove.”

(US NAVY SEAL COMMANDER)

ADVICE: 

Now to all you trainees/assistant, go be your best self and be all you can be by doing the best you can, or join the floor-walking catatonic resources, highly experienced in watching laptop screens, that say yes to everything/one, with no dignity, morals, honour, respect yourself, and wasted life, I am never interested in company awards dressed in black tie ready for the LinkedIn pics, propping bars, telling lies to impress dressed to look richer than they are, wanting to make everyone like me, everything I do, and/or have every done has been for the benefit of the project/business.

Remember it’s the men/women with tool bags, not handbags that build jobs…

"Example In the special forces missions are given to the sergeant major of that chosen squadron (if SAS), and it is planned and delivered by the SM down after a briefing with the team brainstorming the best plan, then the SM makes the final decision, the officers simply tell them what they need doing/the mission – main contracting managers have started to think they know best at everything, and better than the trades, and at times often fall on their sword, whilst having their card marked, and end up not liked/avoided, and the relationships break down – treat everyone with how you’d like to be treated yourself, and listen to their reasons for doing things the way they have done, prior to just snagging them for example, it may of just saved the job cost/time and/or done it a better way…"

"Physics, strategic and lateral thinking, problem finding/solving, planning/programming the full "IBSM" takes brains anyone can learn to use a calculator, or simply ask their boss what to do about everything, it’s being that person that can survive anywhere in any company without any help and succeed on their own - that’s an IBSM manager and the mindset, anyone can be a yes-person, and just be happy being micro-managed..."

If you are going to manage people, be a good manager - even just to simply manage yourself, you must understand when work is taking its toll on your health, and to establish safe-guarding measures for your own/their work life balance. It is a real manager, that can help others even putting others before oneself, but you cannot help if you are in trouble also...

M&E managers will encounter the issue of linear thinking alot during their careers, when either working for a somewhat "stuck" in their ways company and/or their boss, who has been sat in the same chair for decades, thinking they have all their ducks in a row, and are inturn NOT open to change, they just want an easy life, and therefore your lateral thinking mindset will not be harnessed nor appreciated. 

"The only real valuable thing is intuition"
(Albert Einstein)

Ignore others, and have your own mind, whilst remembering years back when asked if UK special forces were better than any other, a UK/NATO spokesman said all members of NATO's special operations team train, and share techniques including their training methods/lessons learnt etc. between one another, therefore all have access to the same training, it’s how they choose to implement it that differs.

In construction those managers who have not ventured outside their company (in some cases) for decades, have not  had access to those other techniques and life lessons, they therefore needed to organically adapt by whom they hired, watching and learning from them, if they have the desire to get better that is!, noting some don't, and are happy to use others as just resource which is fine as long as they pass on autonomy - otherwise people leave after a while anyway if they have anything about them - it’s been a repeated pattern for decades.

"What you are is what you have been, What you'll be is what you do now"
(Buddha)

Noting, once you gain experience you will hopefully enhance/build-upon yourself-for-yourself, working under your own autonomy, SF teams are made up of NCO's (SM down) who plan their own missions and just obtain their objectives from their CO's, now relating that to the construction world would look like; the site team should/would be able to plan their own strategy working with autonomy, and just update the office - NOT be micro-managed by difficult line-management floating away in the clouds somewhere, whilst not wanting to be questioned, as to why you are doing things your way in the first place - you are the operator(s) built with experience, their job is to support you, NOT undermine and question you, if you were not upto the job you shouldn't of been given it in the first place, and if you are someone that likes to be a "yes" manager, always seeking approval, well then you need to start learning to make your own decisions whilst not calling yourself a manager, you are a coordinator if you act like that!.

Now when you think about that statement it makes sense, that a seasoned services manager, that has worked in different companies will always have a more rounded mindset than "institutionalised" individuals that have only their linear mindset, as they do not know any better, yet may be directing their services team with a limited/restricted capability unbeknown to themselves.

This video was chosen as it represents a good example (both as a team, and a solo in one video) of spatial awareness (coordination), control/balance, memory and implementing rehearsed/planned moves (The program and your part in it) and most importantly teamwork (Project team) as formation skydiving is very unforgiving, unlike when on your own (watching-out, for eachothers actions), because your actions can hurt, even kill people, whereas jumping on your own you have only yourself to look after...

Both are meant for you to interpret, and consider as a way of either working as just a lone-wolf, covering just for yourself (your works/discipline ) letting others fail around you, if thats their path/fate, as long as you are ok! (at times you will/may not be liked/popular by all at work, just for doing your job, and you will need to look after yourself simply to survive/get paid), and the other shows how some people prefer to/only operate well in/as a team, progressing forward together (synergy), whilst always helping one another, and others learn...

(The main thing is being able to do both very well consistently, to make a IBSM (1%er))

"Some free advice for trainees/assistances, to maybe keep in mind and/or consider"

Always ask, always learn, and always want to know as much as possible about everything, through knowledge we progress and move forward, but like watering a plant it grows intime with constant watering, there’s no faster way of growing it, such as throwing it in a bath of water, that will not make it grow faster.

"There is such a thing as hitting the ground running, but if you have no ability you won't get very far, remember everyone starts their life one step at a time"...

"Experience & Knowledge, both come from repeating success "over-and-over", 

and learning from mistakes, and I too have made my own fair share - that’s it"

(Ketley)

"Your legacy is what you do now and have done, and is what defines who you are and one day were and remembered for, and certainly NOT being a "yes" nodding pet, riding along lifes path just existing, leaving their world behind with nothing to be remembered for, but getting paid for nodding their heads never making any difference - even to help others makes a difference"

All trainee/assistant/junior services managers should focus on understanding physics, mathematics, planning, strategic management, enjoying their journey and NOT race for job titles wanting to be a senior whilst getting paid more as fast as possible, the massive hunger to jump into leadership roles is often one of the biggest failures whether apparent immediately, or just raising its head from time-to-time as they continue with what becomes the start of their acting career. A M&E PM or BSM, will know in the first few minutes of meeting during discussions if you know your job or not (if they are good they will use your disadvantage to their advantage, if they are really good they will indirectly mentor you whilst still using it to their advantage). 

If a manager has their own way of doing things (yet keeping inline with company/industry process) they will be a better manager, than the one that just fills in the standard files/proformas on their server, those types lean more towards coordinators, not managers. Managers are both students and mentors in one (always learning), adapting to ever changing conditions, not merely to facilitate but also to innovate. Personally Keevan has found managers comimg from an experience running their own companies on a profit/loss basis, and/or off the tools having worked their way up, almost always make better/more-rounded managers than classroom only/educated managers. 

Albeit, if a manager has a thirst for detail coupled with a love for physics and mathematics, that will certainly go a long way no matter the background as their brains will usually be laterally calculating and strategic driven to put it simply - thinkers...

There is such thing as a group/team/department of managers all being equally on par with one another, delivering their works to the same standard, only good mangers often made/expected to work to a lower standard to match the less capable thereby enabling department consistency in hope of all moving forward together, thereby also providing an easier life for those seasoned managers. "Learn the job before the title!!!"

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed, is they trade what they want most for what they want in the moment"

(Napoleon Bonaparte)

"Feed them excrement and keep them in the dark (away from any/all sensitive matters), you should always attempt to be professional, kind and courteous, but at same the time you should mark a poisonous/toxic person's card to protect oneself - but in a smart lateral-thinking strategic mindset, never driven by your emotional feelings - be clever, even creative..."

"So head-down and deliver, it’s that simple, get paid and remember to live life, don't take things personally let karma do it's job, including wasting time/life worrying about things outside your control." 

"Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us it is not"
(Oscar Wilde)

Furthermore many (not all) “Heads/Principles” of departments, are only “Heads/Principles” of said departments, because they have learned not to argue with the board, and survive in the ranks for decades, purely byway of always saying "yes, no problem or we can do it" - no matter if it is right or wrong, whilst being masters in hiding their own lack of competence, knowledge and/or basic understanding of the matter in hand - but if this is the case it isn't your problem to fix or even worry about...

(Note: This is not representative of all, but leans towards the majority, there are indeed real leaders in our industry - just not as many as we need/would like)

Once you become a debate-master the clock is ticking towards your demise in most cases, albeit if you are lucky to work for management that value you being good/competent/strategic/clever at your job, and not just a head nodder, you have somewhat found the holy-grail in an employer (well done and enjoy), because not all companies do, remember a company is only as good as it's people.

"Only really good, confident leaders in management, enjoy being proved wrong in any subject matter, because they enjoy learning and progressing from it, and they treat it as an opportunity, to improve themselves. Insecure management may take it as a threat and/or criticism, but if they were to accept and learn from it, they would actually progress in themselves and infact display real character" (Ketley)

Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts (some say 2774 according to his records) at inventing the light bulb. 

When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied:

"I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps"

(Thomas Edison)

It was later paraphrased as:

"I never failed 1000 times; I learned 1000 ways "NOT" to make a light bulb"

Therefore, everything we do defines our knowledge, skill-set and experience, therefore Keevan explains to others, making mistakes is never an issue, it is a lesson.

"A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new"

(Albert Einstein)

"The only man who never makes mistakes, is the man who never does anything"

(Theodre Roosevelt)

Expect to be the "unsung hero" in the M&E industry, and learn to accept it, do not complain, in the main it is merely a small part of life, that some people survive on the work of others.

"Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt"

(Latin translation): "Those who hurry across the sea change the sky upon them, not their souls or state of mind".

(In short, you will learn nothing about life, whilst rushing - focus on the journey, the meaning and the lesson to really feel the state of mind, "Ketley" calls this an "awakening".)

If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome, remember the only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Keep learning, knowledge and experience is made, whilst mastering patience doing something over-and-over, until it is near second nature to you...

"Don't practise until you get it right, practise until you can't get it wrong"